Research Initiation Award: Probing inter-compartmental cross-talk between redox and amylin signaling networks

研究启动奖为传统黑人学院和大学的初级和中期职业教师提供支持，他们正在建立新的研究项目或重新指导和重建现有项目。期望该奖项有助于提高教师的研究能力和效率，改善所在机构的研究和教学，并使本科生参与研究经验。该奖项授予斯佩尔曼学院在许多领域具有潜在的更广泛的影响，并将有助于建立其研究能力，并提高代表性不足的学生的教育和研究经验。这项研究试图了解β细胞的死亡，这一过程被认为部分是由于胰淀素（一种由β细胞共同分泌的蛋白质）的增加而发生的。更广泛地了解amylin和UCP2的作用将有助于理解细胞如何沟通，从而维持健康的细胞状态。该项目的目的是阐明解偶联蛋白2 （UCP2）在β细胞中的作用，β细胞是分泌胰岛素的细胞。尽管在描述β细胞时不经常讨论胰淀素的分泌，但胰淀素已被证明与胰岛素共同分泌。最近有研究描述了胰淀素对β细胞功能的负面影响。众所周知，UCP2可以减少代谢过程中产生的氧自由基的数量，这表明UCP2可能有助于保持β细胞的健康，因为大量的氧自由基会导致细胞功能低下。本项目将研究UCP2对amylin功能的影响，从而影响amylin在β细胞中的作用。此外，该项目还研究了UCP2对神经元细胞中胰淀素的影响，这些细胞也显示出胰淀素水平的增加。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Research Initiation Awards provide support for junior and mid-career faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are building new research programs or redirecting and rebuilding existing programs. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness, improves research and teaching at the home institution, and involves undergraduate students in research experiences. The award to Spelman College has potential broader impact in a number of areas and will assist in building its research capacity and enhance the educational and research experiences of underrepresented students. This study seeks to understand beta-cell death, a process that has been suggested to occur partially as a result of an increase in amylin, a protein that is co-secreted from beta-cells. A broader understanding of the role of amylin and UCP2 will contribute to understanding how cells communicate so that they can maintain a healthy cell status.The objective of this project is to clarify the role of Uncoupling Protein 2 (UCP2) in beta-cells, which are cells known for secreting insulin. Although the secretion of amylin is not often discussed when describing beta-cells, amylin has been shown to be co-secreted with insulin. The role of amylin in negatively impacting beta-cell function has recently been described. UCP2 is known for decreasing the number of oxygen radicals resulting from a metabolic process, which suggests that UCP2 may work to keep beta-cells healthy since a high number of oxygen radicals can lead to poor cell function. This project will investigate the influence of UCP2 on amylin's function, thereby affecting the role that amylin plays in beta-cells. In addition, the project examines the influence of UCP2 on amylin in neuronal cells, which are cells that have also been shown to have increased levels of amylin.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.